Only the dragon knows it's escape. [rayala]

[rust]

FLETCHER

Pine needles crunched with familiarity around his small hooves.

A long time ago, he would have been against returning to the forest, knowing full well that there was no chance that he would see Deakin. He had wandered so far, he was certain that the forest in which he stood now had no relation to the one that had taken the dark stallion away from him on that dark night.

Fletcher remembered too well the way the stallion’s cry had cut through the night air and all the events leading up to the disappearance of his best friend. The night had been cold, and the two of them could see their breath fogging in front of their faces. “Hungry?” Deakin had asked the roan in his brusk voice, and Fletcher had only nodded slowly in return, flicking an ear in his companion’s direction as he moved off to scout ahead for food, and if luck would have it, water.

That had been their routine. The larger, more intimidating of the two would wander off and search for food, knowing that if they were spotted by the groups that tended to wander in the forest along side them, they would be killed as deserters. Fletcher would wait there, concealed in the shadows, until Deakin returned with word of success of failure.

That night, Deakin had been gone for too long and fletcher began to grow nervous. In the trees, not too far from where he had stood, he suddenly heard the sound of a fight. Hooves smashing against dry pine needles and skin tearing through the leaves and branches of trees as someone, it seemed, tried to get away. Listening with all his might and staring into the deep woods, he could see nothing, but hear everything.

Then he heard the scream, and was sent careening into the woods without looking back.

That night had been the last night that he had seen Deakin, and he feared that his friend had fallen to the angry hooves of their adversaries.

No doubt now, in this far away forest, he was safe from the wrath of those that had deemed him a deserter, but the memory still clung fresh in his memory. Fletcher suspected that it had been almost a year now, and he was still entirely alone. Even though he had managed to find a strong willed, dark skinned woman in another forest that had guided him and protected him, he would always feel alone without his only friend in the world.

Standing in the middle of the woods now, he looks around, noting how the sunlight filters almost delicately through the branches, and how there seems to be not a sound to hear. That should have comforted him, but Fletcher knew that in the forest, and when he was alone, silence was often a warning.

[aligator]

rayala

every king knows it to be true that every kingdom must one day come to an end

Frustrated fuelled her veins, pushed her to move on, move up. The past she had was just that, the past. She knew deep down that she couldn’t change it, what was done was done. Yet, that fact didn’t matter. What mattered was that she was once again torn from everything she had known, and part of her knew it was her own self to blame. If she hadn’t wandered as far as she had, perhaps she would still be in Dreamscape, or better yet, at her mother’s side. Maybe if she hadn’t decided that she needed to know more about the world, then she would be happy and content in her herd, beside her mother, never knowing what lay beyond the boundary.

Rayala wandered aimlessly as these thoughts rattled her mind. The frustration she felt was more at herself for her constant need to know more, never satisfied. The chocolate mare wasn’t sure how long she moved through the different landscapes of this new place, but as the sound of crunching leaves hit her ears, she glanced down. The floor below her had changed from sand (as it had appeared last time she bothered looking) to dense leaves. Pricking her ears, Ray glanced around her, blinking as she took in the thick forest around her. Trees covered every inch, small ones incased by large ones, protecting them. Sheltering them.

Rayala continued into the forest, going deeper under the thick canopy. It was weirdly silent here, and it put her on edge. Tucking her wings tighter against her side, Ray continued through the forest, the sound of her footsteps on leaves the only noise that she could hear.

As she reached the heart of the woods, Ray spotted another horse. Pausing, Rayala wondered if she should approach him, or just turn around and go about her way, back the way she came. But she was sick and tired of being alone and confused and maybe this horse knew more about this place than she did. Maybe, giving into her curiosity just this once wouldn’t be so bad. Besides, he was standing as alone as she was in this weird forest, clearly he had to have a reason for being here, right?

“This forest sort of gives me the creeps. Though I can’t explain why.” She began after a deep breath. She stayed a distance away from the stallion, and glanced around the woods around her. “It seems to swallow up…everything.” She finished, flicking her flaxen tail against her hocks. “I’m Ray, by the way. Sorry for sneaking up on you. I just sort of wandered into…here. Wherever ‘here’ is. Do you know the name of this place?”

Good. Just one question, better than she’d done in the past.

winged mare of no where

character by ali
html by russell & beautiful art by nikkayla

[rust]

FLETCHER

In the quiet of the forest, he could hear her approach.

First came the soft shuffling of her hooves. The sheer silence of the forest made the sound of shuffling pine needles echo through the trees. First he twists his head to one side, ears craning forward to listen in one direction, then he twists his head to the other side, still trying with all his might to hear where the stranger was coming from.

Perhaps his senses had become heightened since the disappearance of Deakin, but Fletcher found it frustrating how he could not pinpoint the exact location of who, or what, was coming towards him.

It made him nervous, and he immediately suspected that he had been seen by one of his enemies- someone that wanted to dispose of his traitorious corpse quickly and quietly. This forest, in the middle of nowhere and pregnant with a forboding sense of loneliness, was the ideal place to commit murder.

When the mare was close enough that Fletcher could clearly see where she was coming from, he flinched in the opposite direction, his body tensing and his tail lashing across his speckled brown hips. Already he could hear his heart thrumming loudly in his ears as he was frozen to the spot, watching with wide eyes as she approached him. Naturally, the only thing he could stare at was the massive wings that draped from her shoulders across her body, tucked ominously against her flesh.

Had she been a darker colour or a little less forward, he certainly would have suspected that she was here to take his soul and carry it to the underworld.

Instead, she greeted him with a flurry of words that made him pause in his thoughts, and while he still contemplated fleeing into the trees and hoping that his skinny legs could outrun her wings, the roan still did listen to her. “Fletcher.” He answered her simply, staring with his dark eyes and only shaking his head in a negatory reply to her question about this place.

[aligator]

rayala

every king knows it to be true that every kingdom must one day come to an end

When she had first arrived in Hoof Prince, Rayala had been terrified and yet intrigued. She remembered watching the gathering horses from the shadow of the trees that outlined the common ground. It wasn’t until the large white stallion, Ober something… Ray couldn’t remember. He was the one that found her, coaxed her out of her hiding and answered her relentless questions as she asked them constantly, barely ever taking a breath. Ray closed her eyes for a moment, remembering that it was at that moment that she first came across The Dro, and it wasn’t soon after that she ran in Amadeus, her curiosity becoming a curse of sorts.

But that was all in the past.

Now, she stood somewhat away from the skittish bay, who stared at her and looked every bit like he was going to bolt at any moment. Ruffling her wings as she began to feel uncomfortable in the whole situation, Ray lowered her head slightly. “Are you lost too, Fletcher?” She asked. While Ray wasn’t exactly lost lost (she could easily turn back the way she came and find that shore again), but she was lost in the strangeness of this new land, a place she had no idea what it was called or who lived here. And it was the unknowing that was eating away at her.

Fletcher didn’t seem to have any idea where he was, or he just decided he didn’t want to give it away. Rayala wasn’t going to get any answers here it seemed. Some part of her wanted to just turn and leave Fletcher behind, he wasn’t going to be of any help in figuring out the questions she had, but she knew she couldn’t do that. Not without having a real reason to.

“I sort of just…wandered here. To this forest. And this land too, I guess. I haven’t seen anyone else yet, just you. I don’t mean to frighten you though, you seem…afraid.” She said, shifting her weight and cocking a hoof. “Are you running from something? Or someone?” It was the only explanation she could get from his skittishness of her. Most horses that acted like that had a very good reason too.

Of course, he could just be skittish by nature. Rayala really had no idea.

winged mare of no where

character by ali
html by russell & beautiful art by nikkayla

[rust]

FLETCHER

She seemed friendly enough.

Of course, it was the friendly ones that he had been taught to be wary of. Deakin had told him that sweet faces and gentle worse were masks that hid ulterior motives. When the two roaming stallions had stumbled across a relatively small looking, injured stallion, they had assumed he had been a loner, someone that had been abandonned by his band just as Fletcher had been.

They thought they were almost related, the way they had been left behind. Yet he had beckoned them, and he had lead them astray. In the belly of the woods, he had turned on them. Leading them into a trap where their hunters had been waiting for them.

Deakin and Fletcher had managed to flee, and they had learnt better than to trust those that were too friendly or too helpful without cause.

Peering at the mare through one eye first, and then the other as she spoke, his head slowly turns from side to side, as if he was trying to get a better view of her face and to read for whatever intentions lay there. Assuming that she was not some mythical creature that was intending to drag him down into the depths of hell as her blood sacrifice to the gods of the fiery deep, he still figured it was best to remain tight lipped.

Not that Fletcher had ever been a particularly chatty young fellow.

He shakes his head, saying no to being lost. He wasn’t entirely lost, he was searching- though he wasn’t certain what it was he was searching for anymore, since he was almost positive that Deakin was dead. Her next questions put him on edge again, and he doesn’t know whether to tell her that he’s running from the blood thirsty hunters of his homeland, or to tell her that he’s trying to find Deakin. Shaking his head slowly again, he dips his head a little bit, letting his muzzle hang even with his shoulders before answering with one word. “Deakin.”

[aligator]

rayala

every king knows it to be true that every kingdom must one day come to an end

Rayala watched him watch her, and she glanced away briefly, feeling slightly uncomfortable underneath his gaze. It’d have been different if he spoke some more, at least easing some of the tension that he was radiating, but he was as quiet as the woods around them. Which made Ray only want to fill the silence even more. It was a problem.

So he wasn’t lost. Maybe the forest was his home, and he wasn’t all that pleased with her wandering onto his territory. Though she hadn’t smelled any markings. Plus, Ray realized with snort, he didn’t seem to know the name of the place. So he couldn’t possibly live here permanently if he didn’t know its name, or have given it a name. But he wasn’t lost either. Was he just wandering? Like her?

Ray tilts her head again as he spoke. Another one worded answer, though this one was much more confusing than the last. “Deakin? Are you running from Deakin?” She asked. She assumed it was the name of a horse, perhaps an enemy of Fletcher? Or something, it could easily be the name of some sort of animal that she had never come across before. “Or to Deakin?” She questioned, taking a step forward, but moving no closer than that. His head hung low, as if the weight of something was on his back, bringing him down. But what it was, Ray had no idea.

“I ran from my mother a while back. And I kind of wish I hadn’t now, because everything became serious really fast and I don’t know if I’m fully ready for that.” She said, turning away from Fletcher and glancing at the trees around her. Rayala hoped that maybe if she spoke about her past, Fletcher would say something more than a one worded answer. But as the last words rang in her own ears, she realized how fearful she was of the new life she had since she left her mother. She had tried to be brave and fight, and pushed away the fears that she had about her mother. But she could only ignore it for so long.

winged mare of no where

character by ali
html by russell & beautiful art by nikkayla

[rust]

FLETCHER

They were caught in a never ending cycle of stares.

She watched him as he watched her, and between their eyes passed an infinite sort of glance. A long time ago, Deakin had told Fletcher that he must be wall-eyed, because looking back into his eyes were like staring into flat pools of nothingness.

It wasn’t that Fletcher was stupid- on the contrary really. It was simple that he had learnt how to adopt a rather blank look some time ago, since it seemed to save him from those that were offended by his face.

It sounded like a petty reason to be offended, but the roan had learnt that it seemed as though he could easily offend strangers. It wasn’t like he tried to be offensive, but it was just that his ability to look rather disinterested in things and his desire to go, for the most part, unnoticed, was often seen as being overly proud and therefore too engulfed with himself to associate with others.

Frankly, Fletcher just wanted to find Deakin and go back to lurking in the trees with him.

Like they never existed to the outside world.

Shaking his head slowly when the winged mare asks if he’s running from Deakin, he answers her with another, single worded answer, this time saying the word with a forlorn, sad voice. “Friend.” Deakin had been the only person in the world that Fletcher had trusted and who had trusted him in return. The two of them had managed to survive the same hardships, and they had managed to escape within hours of each other.

They were branded and they were never welcome back, making them exiles and loners.

As Rayala speaks of her past, the arabian brings his downcast, flat eyes back to her face and watches her for a moment or two before tentatively pushing his nose forwards, ready to offer his muzzle as horses often do when first meeting.

[aligator]

rayala

every king knows it to be true that every kingdom must one day come to an end

It was odd, the silence that happened between the two, broken only by Ray’s longer speeches and Fletcher’s one worded answers. Some might have felt uncomfortable with it, and while Rayala did feel uncomfortable in the silence that occurred between them, she took it in stride. Instead of becoming as quiet as the Arabian was, she spoke enough to make up for his lack of words, and in doing so made her feel slightly better. More confident in a way. Her voice soothed her worries, though she had no idea why.

As long as she was still able to talk, she was okay. Even when she had been scared shitless by Fantome and his clawed, looming wings, she could talk. And talk she did. Sure, it got her into a more difficult situation, much like her curiosity had previously. But she got out of it, and she liked to believe her speech was part of that. The more she talked the more she was able to understand how what she said affected others.

After living with her mother, Rayala had decided that she’d rather talk to much than too little. She couldn’t go back to that suffocating, silent and fearful life. Not now, not after what she had learned and experienced. She couldn’t even though she wanted to, yearning for her mother’s soft touch and whispered words. Despite her regretting leaving her side at most times, Rayala knew deep down that it was better this way, that she was better off this way.

On her own, learning things for herself. It was better.

Rayala smiled briefly as Fletcher motioned forwards with his muzzle, and slowly Ray did the same, taking a few steps forward towards him before halting, her own muzzle outstretched. “I can help you look if you want, for Deakin.” She said quietly, before glancing around her again at the thick forest that surrounded them, “if you want the company, of course. I really have nothing better to do. Besides, it might help me learn more about this place.” Her voice picked up with a flare of excitement at the prospect. Yes, if he let her join him, her own questions might be answered and he might find his friend!

In Ray’s mind, the whole thing was a win/win.

winged mare of no where

character by ali
html by russell & beautiful art by nikkayla

[rust]

FLETCHER

He didn’t mind when others did the talking. That meant that he could let them go on about whatever they liked, and he could simply sit bac and listen and not have to do anything but try and figure out what their angle was.

That was something he had learnt from Deakin. Always listen, and you can find out what someone wants, and just how they would plan to use you. The point was to figure it out and get out before they had a chance to turn you into bait, or somthing more undesirable.

The only problem that Fletcher was having now, was even though he was listening intently to the chocolate coloured mare, he couldn’t really figure out what she was trying to do. As far as he could tell, she was genuinely lost or had managed to lose herself while wandering, and she honestly had no ulterior motive. To her, the little bay roan was just another person that she had managed to bump into that seemed to be willing to listen to her story.

It wasn’t that he was willing or not, it was just that Fletcher was all but incapable of excusing himself even if he wanted to.

When she returns his gesture, he breathes in with little breaths and inhales what he can of her scent. At the sudden flare of excitement in her voice, his legs carry him away from her with a little skip, as if he was spooked by her voice, but it was more of an effort to maintain the distance between them- just in case she turned into some winged beast that tried to drag her off into the distance and feed her to her monstrous young or devour herself.

Fletcher is almost thankful that she offered to look for Deakin with him, but knew that he would face the wrath of his friend. It was better that no one found Deakin, or that Fletcher waited for the black stallion to find him instead, so with a little shake of his head he answers her. “No...”